Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics School of Public Health Tehran University of Medical Sciences M.Sc. Program in Epidemiology Degree Description and Objectives The M.Sc. in Epidemiology is a branch of basic medical sciences and health that evaluates the individual s and public s health. by collecting data and its analysis It identifies their distribution in the society, factors affecting them, and then proposes solutions and evaluates the services provided by the health centers in different levels. Mission The recent century has been the witness to a major change in the health patterns of the society. The changes in the birth and death patterns, age pyramid, life expectancy and patterns of the prevalent diseases in the society are evident. Changes in the prevalent diseases from infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis and cholera to cardiovascular diseases, cancers and metabolic disorders and causal models of new diseases in addition to the serious attention given to evaluation of environmental factors, work factors and psychological factors, caused the development of new interests in this major and provided new ground for doing research on public health and factors affecting it. New aspects in molecular biology and genetics are the result of the raised interests in the researches concerning the causes of the diseases and factors affecting them. The most important role of an epidemiologist is the analyzing of the health statistics, monitoring and evaluating the health programs and determining the cost-benefit of health plans. An epidemiologist helps its foundational role in health system by optimizing the costs in different health programs and levels, and also contributing in selecting the best ways in raising the public health, all of which leading to the economic and social development of the society.
Perspective Graduate students of increase epidemiological thinking in the society and in different administrative part of it. They analyze the public health data and help authorities in data analysis, making evidence-based decision and also drawing their attention to cost-effectiveness. In this regard, they help in producing full and equal access to quality health care services for all members of the community by doing investigation on the background and causes of the health inequalities in society. They also help in proposing solutions and offering effective preventive measures raising the medical sciences in the country by doing clinical researches with regard to research standards and by raising the quality of the results.it is expected that In the future we would become one of the main centers of decision making and policy making in the field of health and disease in our region and worldwide. Objectives The main objective of the program is training human sources in the graduate level in order to give the related health services in the following fields: Teaching and Empowerment in identification of the health issues of the society Teaching and Empowerment in identification of the behavioral patterns and the society s characteristics in various aspects Teaching and Empowerment in scientific ways of collecting data Teaching and Empowerment in monitoring and evaluating of programs and analysis of cost-effectiveness Teaching and Empowerment in ways of using the statistical methods and computers in data analysis Teaching and Empowerment in identification of the danger sources and ways of controlling them in different levels of the research Admission Preferences Admission requires a B.S. degree in health related sciences from an accredited university.
Courses The course duration depends on the course regulations. The teaching time in each theory course is 17 hours, 14 hours in empirical courses and 51 hours of internship during each semester. This course consists of the following core, non-core and make-up credits: -make-up lessons -core lessons -Non-core lessons -seminar -dissertation -sum 1 credit (medical information dissemination systems) 18 credits 6 credits 2 credits 6 credits 32 credits Chart A: Make-up lessons of M.Sc. in Lesson code Lesson name credits hours Pre requisite theory empirical sum 01 Medical information dissemination systems 1 9 17 26 All students are required to pass these credits in case of lacking credits or requiring make-up. Chart B: Core lessons of M.Sc. in Lesson code Lesson name credits hours Pre requisite theory empirical sum 02 Epidemiology basics
03 Epidemiology methods 04 Biostatistics methods 1 05 Biostatistics methods 2 06 Epidemiology of contagious diseases 07 Epidemiology of non-contagious diseases 08 Health data analysis using computers 09 Survey methods of 2 34-34 04,03 2 17 34 51 04,05 2 34-34 04,02 10 Research method 2 17 34 51 - sum 18 Chart C: Non-Core lessons of M.Sc. in Lesson code Lesson name credits hours Pre requisite theory empirical sum 11 Survey methods 2 34-34 04 12 Non parametric survey methods 2 34-34 05
13 Epidemiology modelling 14 Health economics 15 Medical Demography,03,05,05 16 Clinical 2 34-34 09,03 17 Clinical experiments 18 Multivariate data analysis methods,03 2 34-34 05 19 Environmental 20 Genetic 21 Reproductive 2 34-34 10,05,04,02 22 Principles of cancer 23 Application of in health system.04.10 2 34-34 03,02 24 Internship 2 - - 10 02,04,10 25 Social
26 Principles of Health Planning and Management 2 34-34 Sum 32 The student is required to pass 6 credits from those mentioned above. Choosing noncore credits would depend on the student s interest, dissertation and the instructors opinion. M.Sc. Thesis Proposal The thesis proposal describes the rationale for the proposed research and outlines its basic components. The proposal is submitted to the department s research committee members (consisting of a dissertation advisor, department s head, and department education and research representatives) for the final evaluation and approval. Thesis Defense The student and the thesis committee are required to comply with the School of Public Health guidelines with regard to preparation of the thesis and meeting deadlines for graduation. During the thesis defense, the thesis committee will thoroughly examine the student s knowledge in the content area of the research.